When a person touches a piranha, they emit a croak, and scientists are learning to grasp what it means slowly but surely. Croaks have been understood likely to mean such things as “leave me alone”, “I am angry”, and “I will bite, etc. Marine biologist Eric Parmentier of the Université de Liège in Belgium has stated formally that this could also be ascertained from the in-depth study of other fish. It has been learned that it is always one likely to be avoided due to its work with the very carnivorous red-bellied piranha that possibly almost all animals can communicate with each other in some form or another.
In depth cameras and video recorders are being placed in tanks to learn the behaviour of the fish in relation with the croaks that they emit. It is no easy business to work out these theories of piranha translation or animal language understanding in general as it seems that animals are at much less need to communicate than humans tend to. Such sounds as a sort of “get away from me” sound has been understood and found to be repeated on a regular basis within this species and scientists aim to continue to grow their “piranha lexicon” with time and effort. This study could open whole new fields into the learning of how animals in general communicate with neighbours and other species as well.